01x07 - The Dunbar Armored Depot Heist

[bunniefuu]

An unassuming building
in downtown Los Angeles

filled with cash.

There's millions and millions
of dollars in this facility.

Six friends decide
they want what's inside.

They had everything
planned to the T.

Can these amateur thieves
become a professional crew

and hit the jackpot?

And now, let's go, let's go.

It's on.

Or will the score of a
lifetime get them all k*lled?

This is most definitely
not part of the plan.

[dramatic music]

[jazzy music]

The masterminds
behind every great heist

see what most people don't...

♪ ♪

risking everything to pull off
the score of a lifetime.

It takes a bold plan...

♪ ♪

The right team,

and the skill to stay
one step ahead of the law.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

The group of friends
attempting this robbery

has never been in trouble
with the law before.

But tonight,
they're risking everything

on one amateur mastermind's
bold plan to steal millions.

At the time, LA is known
as the bank robbery capital

of the world,
but their target isn't a bank.

It's the place that supplies
banks with their cash.

♪ ♪

The Dunbar Armored
facility actually houses

on any given day
well over $100 million,

as does all
of their competitors,

Brinks, or any of the other

local armored
transport companies.

Dunbar Armored depot has a
lot less security than a bank,

but does have a lot more cash.

But the average
stickup guy can't just

go in and rob the joint.

♪ ♪

The South Mateo Street location

was a one-level building.

It was very similar
to a warehouse,

and it was very indiscreet,

other than the trucks pulling
in and out of the facility.

On the outside,
it's a very drab, beige color

that wouldn't attract attention.

But on the inside, it's
a 26,000 square foot facility

with lots of different offices

and lots of different
security features.

As you enter, there is
a very elite alarm system,

in addition to all
of the surveillance cameras,

which were well in excess
of 20, 25 cameras.

The main security station is
located in the lunchroom area.

There are monitors
that show the CCTV footage

from all angles
of the facility.

Security guards watch
the monitors 24 hours a day.

Armed drivers wearing
bulletproof vests

come and go at all hours.

There are
b*llet-resistant doors

in front
of the vault prep area.

The vault prep area
is a secure room

outside the vault door
where every dollar is counted

and wrapped
with a Dunbar band.

The door to that room
is locked 24/7.

And of course, you have
an 18-inch impregnable vault.

There's enough surveillance,
firepower, and security

to deter most
ordinary criminals.

But 28-year-old Allen Pace
isn't a criminal at all.

He's just an employee

who's surrounded
by millions in cash

and sees cracks
in Dunbar's armor.

♪ ♪

Allen Pace is the mastermind
of the heist.

Allen Pace is just
a run-of-the-mill guy,

somebody you might even lose
in the crowd if you saw him.

He's just a regular dude,

not involved
in any criminality

prior to this incident.

Some people viewed him
as a prankster.

Some people thought
he was a little c*ck.

♪ ♪

As a security guard,

Allen Pace knows
how to use a g*n.

He knows how to use
radio headsets

to communicate
with other guards.

And more importantly, he knows
how to work under pressure.

♪ ♪

Allen Pace is responsible
for inspecting

and maintaining the trucks,

so he works at the Dunbar
storage facility full-time,

and obviously observes
the routines.

You get used to doing
the same thing the same way

all the time,
and when people are watching

and they pay attention,
this is that kind of

internal knowledge
that's very helpful.

I think it's only normal
that any average person would

start looking at all
that money and fantasize

about what it might be like
to take it.

And maybe fantasy leads

to taking a more critical look
around the facility,

thinking, well, if I was
going to, how would I do it?

Having a background
in security is a great way

to learn how to commit
a bank robbery, right?

Pace also learns
some key facts

about how he might steal
the Dunbar millions

from the girl
who stole his heart,

Tamiko Carnes.

♪ ♪

Tamiko Carnes is
Allen Pace's girlfriend.

She works at the Dunbar
facility as well,

and her job is to manage
video security equipment.

Tamiko's role at Dunbar
is incredibly beneficial

for Allen Pace.

She knows lots
of the security measures.

And you can well imagine
that at home,

there's a lot of pillow talk
about what goes on.

Pace sees how a small crew
with the right game plan

could actually pull off
a heist at Dunbar.

Then, without warning,
his inside woman is out.

She's fired
under suspicion of theft

because there were some
money bags that were placed

in a surveillance dead zone.

And that, along with other
circumstantial evidence,

is enough for the senior
executives to fire her.

♪ ♪

And when that happens,

Pace's relationship
with Dunbar turns adversarial.

And within a fairly
short space of time,

one of Allen's
friends gets fired,

and his girlfriend gets fired,

and there's maybe starting
to build some animosity

between Allen
and upper management.

Pace decides to make
his fantasy a reality.

But if he's going to attempt
the heist of his life,

he'll need guys he trusts
with his life.

♪ ♪

He needs the right crew.

♪ ♪

His first choice,

best friend, Eugene Hill.

Eugene Hill is a good
friend of Pace's.

He's actually the first guy
that he brings on board.

They've known each other
for a long, long time,

and they actually have worked
together as security officers

at a variety
of different venues.

Eugene Hill also has
no criminal background.

For Pace to pull this off,
he'll need a bigger team.

Allen Pace has a challenge,

because if he approaches
the wrong person,

the whole plan could be foiled.

He has to recruit guys
that are open

to pushing the boundaries.

And really,
it takes a lot of guts

in order to do
something like that.

But this isn't
the kind of job

you post in the classifieds.

He meets with a couple
of friends in the parking lot

after church and sketches out
his plan in chalk.

I mean, to be able
to get individuals

that have never committed
crimes like this,

you really have to be
a pretty dynamic person.

These guys, they really need
to be convinced

that this is something
that they should do,

which speaks
to how much they trust Pace.

Trust is good,

but Pace knows his can't-miss
plan will seal the deal.

He shows his friends
how the cold, hard facts

lead to cold, hard cash.

Pace sketches out a rough
layout of the facility.

He maps out each
of their movements

and each step
that they have to take

to dodge the security cameras.

It's definitely
a plan in progress,

but Pace's confidence
is contagious.

Two more of his friends agree
to risk everything

for a colossal score.

♪ ♪

Freddie McCrary Jr.
is one of the guys

that are brought in early on.

He works as a security guard
at a church.

And him and Pace are
really good friends.

They actually knew each other
since they were ten years old,

and he's a bit
of a teddy bear.

They've done security
at churches,

at nightclubs as bouncers.

And having grown up together,
I would imagine

that there's more
of a brotherhood-type bond

between the two of them.

Freddie McCrary Jr. is someone
that Allen trusted

probably with his life.

The next person
is Terry Brown.

♪ ♪

He met Terry Brown through one
of his jobs working security.

As a matter of fact,
Pace started a security company

with Brown and McCrary.

♪ ♪

Pace now has a trusted
crew of three,

but to keep his plan
moving forward,

he needs to case
the Dunbar facility.

And that means taking pictures
and risks.

This is really where
the rubber meets the road

in this plan, because he is
then able to do things

like take pictures of employees
under the guise of safety.

What he's really doing
is creating dossiers

on the Dunbar employees
his crew could

encounter during the heist.

He's also taking pictures
of the CCTV cameras

they'll have to avoid.

He is able to check
on surveillance cameras

and where they are recording
and what they're recording.

Of course,
there's always the chance

someone will ask him
what the heck he's doing.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

Allen Pace is using
his day job

at Dunbar Armored depot
as a cover to plan a heist.

And he's just attracted
some unwanted attention.

Allen Pace,
as a safety manager,

is able to go around
and take photos.

♪ ♪

And even if he does
get caught doing it,

no one really suspects
anything fishy is going on.

He is able
to use his position

in order to further
his criminal enterprise.

♪ ♪

Allen Pace now
has procured photos.

He has more details
on the facility.

And he calls in
a second meeting.

♪ ♪

So Allen envisions the caper
going down like this.

♪ ♪

Pace and his crew travel
to the Dunbar facility

in two vehicles.

Some of them ride in the truck

that they're gonna use
to store the money,

some of them ride
in a personal vehicle.

They'll take the freeway,

stash the second car
a few blocks from Dunbar,

then all ride in the rental
truck to the depot,

letting themselves in
with Allen's key.

They'll go in
on a Friday night

when there's the most amount
of cash in the vault

and security is the lightest.

The door actually
to the vault is also left open

on Friday because they were
dealing with so much money.

They were counting
so much money,

and then they were gonna
have to put this in the vault.

So to save a step,
they leave the vault door open.

Pace will instruct the team
on which cash is safe to take

and which should be
left behind.

What they definitely
don't want

are the freshly-minted bills

that are in sequential order
and very traceable.

They'll avoid
all the security cameras.

He knows all the positions.

There's a single
security guard on duty.

They'll time it
so that they go in

when he's on his lunch break.

The only people
that they really need

to concern themselves with,
in terms of corralling

and controlling,
are the three or four people

that he's expecting
to be in the facility

along with the night
security guard.

Then they need to get
into the vault prep area

fast enough
to grab the dispatcher

before he can hit
the panic button.

They'll subdue all
the employees in the building,

grab the money,
throw it into a truck,

and be in and out before
anyone knows what's happened.

To avoid suspicion,

Pace won't participate
in the heist himself.

He's relying on his friends
to get this job done.

He's going to give them
all the information they need.

He's going to plan out
the whole thing for them.

He's going to coach them up,
make sure they know

exactly what they need to do,

but he's not going
to participate in the robbery.

He's going to stay
a Dunbar employee

and wake up the next day
with no one being the wiser.

Pace refines his plan

and knows his crew will need
help controlling the guards.

And that's where
Thomas Johnson comes in.

Thomas Johnson is originally
from Las Vegas.

He's also friends
with some of the guys.

He's done security as well.

These guys are like
birds of a feather.

They all flock together.

They have the commonality of,
we do security.

♪ ♪

As the meetings progress,
there's more and more details.

He's got information
on the security system.

He's got pictures
of the employees

with their names
and what they will be doing.

Pace instructs his men
to wear dark clothing.

They're going to wear masks.

They're going to put gloves
over their hands.

They're going to try
to hide their identities

as best as humanly possible.

They also talk about things

that only an insider
would know...

the timing of the cameras that
are on a rotating schedule

as they enter the facility.

25 cameras are
in fixed positions,

so their feed rotates
through the handful

of monitors
at the guard station.

The crew needs to avoid
being caught on camera

and has some inside intel.

Tamiko's position at Dunbar
was the video manager

over the equipment,
which means that she, too,

has intimate internal
institutional knowledge

about how they conduct surveillance

over their employees
once inside the building,

If this team of amateurs
has any hope

of beating
the surveillance cameras,

Pace needs to start
training them like pros.

Allen Pace wants to prepare
his team for the robbery.

They've never done anything
like this before.

♪ ♪

So they would have to have
done a little practice.

You play like you practice.

And as a security guard,
you want to make sure

that you run through
the drill of,

when we go in,
this is how we're gonna move,

this is how we're gonna walk,

this is who's gonna
go in first,

this is the order.

Everything has to be planned.

You can't just go in
willy-nilly.

Pace is determined that
nobody get hurt in the heist,

but with armed guards
in the building,

they can't go in empty-handed.

Freddie McCrary supplies
the handguns,

but all the guys are
familiar with this

because of their job
as security.

♪ ♪

While they brought g*ns
just in case

or to use
as an intimidation factor,

he understands that
these people would go along

if they saw armed men.

I don't think
he wanted to hurt them.

This wasn't about them.
This was about Dunbar.

♪ ♪

Allen Pace is feeling
very good about his plan.

A few more weeks
to get the guys in shape,

shave a few seconds
off their entry,

and they'll be ready
to pull off the heist

in late September.

And then...
[cell phone ringing]

This happens.

♪ ♪

[cell phone ringing]

The pieces are in place.
The team is set.

Pace gets a call
from upper management.

He's fired.

♪ ♪

Allen Pace is confident
that his friends can pull off

a multi-million dollar heist
at Dunbar Armored.

His plan hinges on them using
his key to sneak in.

But then...
[cell phone ringing]

He gets a game-changing
phone call.

Allen Pace was terminated
from his position

with Dunbar Armored on Friday,
September the 12th.

The practical joker
is accused

of tampering
with company vehicles.

But losing his job at this
stage is no laughing matter.

He has to turn in his keys,
and what that does

is that accelerates the plan
a little bit.

When Pace gets the call
that he's being fired,

he realizes
that he actually has

to go on the robbery himself.

If he sends these guys
in there unprepared,

so many things could go wrong,

so he knows he's going
to have to go with them,

lead the charge, and help
conduct the robbery himself.

He had to kick it
into high gear.

They were going to have
to do this robbery immediately.

♪ ♪

Pace calls his right-hand
man, Eugene Hill,

and tells him,
rent the U-Haul.

♪ ♪

He tells the others,
it's go time.

So Allen Pace knows that as
a recently terminated employee,

he's going to be
a prime suspect.

He knows that he's going
to need an alibi.

And Eugene Hill tells him that
his girlfriend is actually

throwing a house party
in Long Beach,

and if they attended,
that's their solid alibi.

People at this party,
no matter who you ask,

are going to be able to vouch
for all of these guys.

So their alibi is going
to be very strong.

Before the party,
they meet at Hill's apartment.

♪ ♪

Pushing up the timeline
has Pace worried.

Even with him leading the way,

one man stays with the truck,

one watches the guard,

they could potentially
be outnumbered

in the vault prep room.

Pace realizes
he needs another guy.

And that's when he engages
Erik Boyd.

♪ ♪

Erik is a little bit different.

He's the brother-in-law
of Allen Pace.

While he's done a little bit
of security,

he's not really well-known
by the others.

Maybe this was
an opportunity for Allen

to bring in a family member,
his sister's husband,

and give her
the homie hookup as well.

♪ ♪

Since he hasn't been

training like the rest
of them,

Boyd will man the U-Haul until
they secure the building.

♪ ♪

The final meeting
that took place,

each of the individuals discussed

what their responsibilities
were going to be

during the course
of the robbery.

Terry Brown supplies
the radio headsets.

The plan also includes
a safety measure.

The guys don't want to refer
to each other by names

during the robbery
to give away their identities,

so when they speak
to each other on the radios,

they say, "one to two"
or "two to three,"

and Allen Pace is number one.

♪ ♪

One of the things
that everybody agrees to

as they get ready
to embark on this endeavor

is if anybody gets caught,
you don't talk.

And whoever is left
on the outside will take care

of whoever is incarcerated financially,

make sure
that their family is OK.

They're going in blind to
try to pull off this robbery,

so they must have had
an incredible amount

of trust in Allen.

And they must have really
wanted the money

to be able to go through
with it.

♪ ♪

That evening, they go
to a party in Long Beach.

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

When it gets close
to about 11:00 p.m.,

they slip away from the party
one by one, unnoticed.

Two of them get
into Hill's sedan,

and the other four get
into the rented U-Haul truck.

It's a brilliant plan,

because when they're done
with the heist,

come back,
and it's like they never left.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

[engine turns over]

♪ ♪

As they drive
to the facility,

the adrenaline is rushing.

This is the biggest thing
they've ever even attempted

to pull off, and now they're
minutes away from doing it.

♪ ♪

They avoid
their first potential

roadblock of the night.

Traffic is light
on LA's 710 freeway.

♪ ♪

The Dunbar depot is located
in downtown Los Angeles.

And it's a pretty
desolate area.

There's no stores.

There's no homes,
no restaurants.

So anyone who's wandering
around there

without any particular reason
is looking pretty suspicious.

♪ ♪

They drive
to the Dunbar facility.

The guys that are in the back
of the U-Haul,

once they get situated nearby,

they park and they change into
their costume, if you will,

gloves, mask, black clothing.

[g*n c*ck]

♪ ♪

They have one last moment

that is their point
of no return.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

These five ordinary guys
are risking their lives

on the only heist their friend,
Allen Pace, has ever planned.

And right out of the gate,
they get a lucky break.

Pace recognizes
the night dispatcher's

pickup truck parked outside.

He knew that
that particular truck belonged

to one of the employees
inside the facility,

and he knew that one
of the surveillance cameras

was positioned directly at
that truck and would not move.

The dispatcher's soft spot
for his new truck

creates a surveillance
blind spot at the front door.

On a signal from Pace,
the heist is on.

♪ ♪

So they move up to
the facility commando-style.

The guys are dressed
all in black.

They've got two-way radios.
They've got their g*ns.

They use Pace's key
to get in the front door.

♪ ♪

We suspected that Pace
either kept a key

or duplicated some of his keys

prior to surrendering them
at the time he was terminated.

♪ ♪

Now in order
to make it from the door

that they've entered
all the way to the lunchroom,

they have to dodge a series
of surveillance cameras.

And what they've done
is they've timed

when this camera's
looking this way,

they will sneak over here.

At this point,
this is when the hand signals

and the non-communication
comes in,

because they don't want
anybody to know

that they're in the facility.

So it's a slow move
down this corridor

to the lunchroom,
where they ultimately make it

without being spotted
on the surveillance cameras.

They make it
to the lunchroom undetected,

but their plan depends
on the armored guard appearing

where Pace expects him to be
at exactly the right time.

Who do they see?

Mr. 12:00 midnight I got
to take my lunch break guy.

They see him,
and the first thing they do

is gaffle him up,
tie him up with duct tape.

He's got a .357 revolver.

They take that away from him,

as well as the keys
to the vault area.

♪ ♪

Pace checks
the security monitors

to verify there are only three
people in the vault prep room.

Now that they have
the guard's keys,

taking control of that room
should be no problem.

Even though there's
a lot of planning

that goes
into a heist like this,

there are still the unknowns.

There's always going
to be a variable

that you can't account for.

♪ ♪

When they come out
of the lunchroom,

they see a driver guard
walking down the hallway.

♪ ♪

This is most definitely
not part of the plan.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

Eight minutes into
the Dunbar Armored depot heist

and all is going as planned

for Allen Pace and his crew...

until now.

As they're making a turn
out of the lunchroom,

they see another
guard coming out.

The guy's wearing
body armor.

He's walking right
toward them.

This is a really
tense moment.

This guy was not
supposed to be there.

Pace knows the timing, he knows
the routines of everything.

He knows that the guards
who drive the armored cars

should have already been
in and out.

♪ ♪

Luckily for the robbers,

the driver guard doesn't
have his weapon.

He's already secured it elsewhere.

They immediately push him
down on the floor,

and they duct tape him as well.

Once Pace and the other
individuals have

the actual employees bound,

one of the robbers
stands guard,

and the remaining robbers then
make their way

into the vault prep area.

Pace peeks through
the bulletproof glass

to confirm there are no
surprise Dunbar employees.

Then it's time to see
if practice makes perfect.

♪ ♪

Pace and his guys storm
into the vault prep area

using the keys they took
from the security guard.

♪ ♪

Now their next challenge

is to subdue
three Dunbar employees.

They see one dispatcher
sitting behind the desk

and two bookkeepers
that are counting money.

They're able to apprehend
the dispatcher

before he's able
to hit the alarm button.

As Pace and his guys are
subduing the employees

in the vault prep area, they
shove them down to the ground.

They're screaming and yelling,

asking who else is
in the building,

making sure they've
accounted for everyone.

One of the women gets pushed
down to the ground so hard

that she cries out in pain.

One of them actually
injures her shoulder,

and Pace,
in effort to comfort her,

says, "Don't worry, baby,
everything's going to be OK."

With the money counters
all accounted for,

it's time to get down
to business.

♪ ♪

They immediately get on the
radio and notify the driver,

Erik Boyd...
he's out in the U-Haul...

to back it up
into the loading area

so that they can begin
to load the bags of cash

into the U-Haul.

But while backing the truck
up to the loading dock,

Boyd accidentally cracks
a taillight.

Team focused on the cash,
no one notices.

♪ ♪

Allen knew that
on this Friday night,

they were going to be bursting
at the seams with cash.

And these funds were going to
be dispersed over the weekend

to various ATMs
throughout Los Angeles.

Allen begins instructing
all of the other robbers

on which bags to get
and which bags not to get.

♪ ♪

There are certain bags
of cash

that they don't want to touch.

He has that internal
institutional knowledge.

And much like
when you go to the bank,

if you're committing robberies,

you don't want to take
the dye pack.

They take the cash
in the plastic shrink wrap

and then they put them
into garbage bags.

And from the garbage bags,
they put them in the bins.

And then they wheel the bins
to the U-Haul truck.

And now, let's go, let's go.

[laughs] It's on.

♪ ♪

We've got to get
as much money as we can

as quickly as we can.

♪ ♪

The team's moving fast,
but Pace stays in control.

There's a bin full of cash
in the back,

enough to triple their take,

but since Pace doesn't know
if the currency is marked,

he leaves it behind.

In this particular bin,

there was somewhere between
$65 million and $70 million

all in $20 bill denominations.

♪ ♪

30 minutes into the heist,

the truck is stuffed
with cash.

The crew can't leave behind
incriminating footage,

so they take the VCR

and recordings
from the guard room.

There's another hidden
security measure

to contend with,
but Pace's girlfriend, Tamiko,

has told them
how to deal with that.

She shares with Allen
that there is an office

within the facility
where there's a secret

backup recording
that goes on internally

that no one else would
probably know.

You have to remember
this is 1997.

All the robbers had to do was
rip the security systems

out of the wall, take the
recording equipment with them,

and there would be no visual
evidence of the crime.

♪ ♪

Now that they've got
all of the tapes

that they can
get their hands on,

they need to make it look
like a real burglary.

So they go about vandalizing
the interior of the office.

They break a lock
on one of the front doors.

Now they're ready
to make their big escape.

♪ ♪

They've taken so much money

that two of the crew members
can't fit in this U-Haul.

♪ ♪

No one expected
that they would fill

the back of that U-Haul
chest-high with bags of money.

The plan was
to drop Pace and Hill off

at their getaway car.

But thanks to the success
of the heist,

the U-Haul truck is too full.

Now the best friends have
to find their own way out.

So now how do we get back
to the getaway car?

They can't walk.

It's after midnight.

You understand
the problem associated

with two Black men walking
on the streets

of downtown LA after midnight.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

The Dunbar heist team
has loaded so much cash

into their rental truck
that Allen Pace

and Eugene Hill
no longer have a ride

to their getaway car
a few blocks away.

They didn't want
to run the risk of being seen

walking the streets
of Los Angeles after midnight,

two Black men wearing
all black,

ski masks, and gloves.

But they have to make it back
to the getaway car fast.

♪ ♪

In that moment,
Pace exhibits a moment

of really quick thinking.

Allen knows the dispatcher
parks his pickup truck

in the same place every night.

Pace runs back
into the facility,

grabs the guy's car keys,

rushes back out.

And Pace and Eugene Hill get
in that pickup truck

and go back
to Eugene Hill's car,

which is parked on the street
a couple blocks away.

♪ ♪

All six men make a clean
getaway from the Dunbar depot.

They rendezvous
at Hill's apartment

to stash the g*ns and gear,

then change back
into their party clothes.

Just 90 minutes
after leaving the party,

they're ready to return

and lock in their
rock-solid alibis.

And when they get
to the party,

they park the U-Haul truck
in front of the house.

And they go right in.

And it was
as if they never left.

♪ ♪

I personally would be
nervous as hell

if a U-Haul truck full
of millions of dollars,

so much money that I don't even
know exactly how much is in it,

is just sitting
outside this party,

right outside on the curb
in Long Beach, California.

♪ ♪

Back at the Dunbar Armored depot,

the hostages have freed
themselves and called 911.

Immediately,
Los Angeles Police Department

dispatches units
to the facility,

and the FBI was notified

and responded to the robbery.

When investigators
arrive on the scene,

they start examining
the facility.

One of the early things
they notice

is that there's been
some damage to the lock

of the front door,
but it looks like a cover-up.

It looks like,
more than likely,

someone used a key
to get into the facility

and then damaged the lock afterwards,

which all signals
that there probably was

an inside man for the robbery.

♪ ♪

Meanwhile, in Long Beach,

the party has finally
broken up.

The guys move the truck
to a nearby alley

where the Pace gives
each member of the crew

a small cut
of their full share.

After they divvy up
their shares,

there's still a lot of money,

so Thomas Johnson actually
rents a storage unit.

And they take the U-Haul truck
there to unload the remainder.

♪ ♪

Four hours after the heist,

LAPD and the FBI are scouring
the building for evidence.

♪ ♪

While the crew took
every precaution,

there's one small detail
they missed.

♪ ♪

A key piece of evidence
that the authorities find

is this plastic lens.

It looks like it came off
of a broken taillight.

But it doesn't match any
of the Dunbar vehicles.

♪ ♪

Two days after the heist,
executives at Dunbar determine

just how much cash is missing,

$18.9 million.

Keep in mind,
of this $18.9 million,

better than 75% of that
was in $20 bill denomination.

So you can only imagine
the volume of the money

that was taken
by Pace and these robbers.

The amount of money
that was stolen was so high

that law enforcement fears
copycat robberies likely.

So they don't want
to tell the public

exactly how much
money was taken.

So they get around it
by just staying very vague.

They just say to the media,

"More than $1 million
was stolen,"

and leave it at that.

♪ ♪

Missing security tapes,
speed of the heist,

point to an inside job.

Investigators give all 130
current and recently fired

Dunbar employees
lie detector tests.

Only two people fail,

Allen Pace
and his girlfriend, Tamiko.

And other evidence
also points to Pace.

One of the employees
that was tied up

recognized Allen Pace's voice

when he spoke to the female.

He referred to her as "baby"

in several of the comments
that he made to her.

Between the failed polygraph
and the witness statement,

Dunbar management expects
an arrest.

But investigators don't
have a case.

We didn't have the actual
physical evidence

that would support
an arrest of Allen Pace.

There was a lot of conjecture
and supposition,

but we just didn't
have the evidence.

With no way to pin
the Dunbar Armored depot heist

on Pace, the investigation
drags on for months.

A year after the heist,

stumped investigators form
a task force

with agents
from the FBI, LAPD,

and the government agency
you really don't want

on your case, the IRS.

For several months,
we were following up on any

and every lead
that we had whatsoever.

And several of these leads
turned out to be fruitless.

♪ ♪

Executives offer a reward
for any information

about the robbery
to the tune of $250,000.

A quarter of $1 million
is now offered

for information
about this robbery.

Law enforcement is having
a tough time finding leads

because of Pace's first rule
for his secret millionaires,

don't spend lavishly.

In the beginning,
because they've made a pact

to lay low,
the crew is very modest

in how they're
spending their money.

Pace was really thinking
about it as long-term gain.

He really wants
to set himself up financially.

They're thinking about,
you know,

how they can create
a better life for themselves.

When they do start
spending money,

they're not spending it on,
like, Lamborghinis,

McMansions, or even traveling.

They are spending money
on property

in and around the LA area.

And they also
start a business

called Extreme Entertainment

that's basically just
a money laundering front

to be able to pay them back
some of the money

that they stole
without raising any red flags.

♪ ♪

Fast-forward another year,

and the crew is confident
they've gotten away with it.

♪ ♪

And that's exactly
when someone gets careless.

♪ ♪

He makes probably
the most amateur

of all amateur mistakes.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

After two years
of playing it smart,

the heist crew's
world is rocked

all because of one rookie's
dumb mistake.

The problems begin
with Eugene Hill.

He takes about $100,000
of the money that was stolen,

and he wants
to invest it in land.

The money is still wrapped with
paper straps from the robbery.

The realtor is instantly suspicious

and contacts the police.

They had heard
that there's a $250,000 reward

being offered
for this Dunbar heist,

and they call the authorities.

Part of the downfall
of this crew

is their naivete
with this type of crime.

That's not how you pay
for real estate.

♪ ♪

We were able to verify
these paper money straps

because of what was
actually stamped on them

and the date
of September the 11th,

of September the 12th, 1997.

♪ ♪

But it's not
just Eugene Hill

who suddenly has a target
on his back.

Once they begin to look
more closely at Eugene Hill,

what the investigators
find out is that Eugene Hill

was writing checks from
his sister's bank account.

They knew that his sister
didn't have the income

to support the kind of expenses

that were occurring
at the time.

Meanwhile,
the FBI crime lab determines

that the tailgate fragment
found at the scene

is unique to U-Haul trucks.

With a handful of suspects'
names to search for,

the investigation goes
old school.

Myself and probably three
or four others were sitting

in a room going through
box after box after box

that contained
these U-Haul records.

And when we found
that rental agreement

in the name of Eugene Hill,

obviously, we were elated.

First one in,
first one caught.

Eugene Hill is
the weakest link.

He rented the U-Haul truck

using his own California
driver's license.

The fact that the truck was
rented on September 12th

and returned
on September the 13th,

the day after the robbery,

a tremendous break for us.

♪ ♪

We approach Eugene Hill
at his residence

for the sole purpose
of interviewing him

and trying to determine
his whereabouts

during the time of
the actual robbery.

We took him into custody
the following day.

♪ ♪

Even though
they had all agreed,

if you get caught,
don't say anything,

we'll take care
of you financially,

it's a whole different thing
when you're actually

under that hot lamp and
they're asking you questions.

Investigators tell Hill
that his sister will be

charged as an accomplice
unless he cooperates.

Family wins out over friends.

Eugene Hill admitted to his
participation in the robbery,

and he named all of his
accomplices in the robbery.

Eugene began breaking down
everything from A to Z,

and that ultimately led to the
downfall of the entire crew.

The next domino to fall
is Thomas Johnson.

A few months later,
police arrest Freddie McCrary,

and shortly after,
Terry Brown.

Allen Pace knows he's next.

♪ ♪

Allen Pace understands he's
got some explaining to do.

So rather than go in unprepared,

because he doesn't seem like
the kind of person

who does anything
without forethought,

he decides to turn himself in,
but does so with an attorney.

Pace and his friends are
indicted on charges

of robbery, conspiracy,
and money laundering.

But what they hear
in their first

court appearance
astonishes them.

The United States magistrate
actually reads the indictment,

this $18.9 million loss.

We could literally see each of
the individuals turning around

and looking toward the crowd

as if they're wondering
who committed that robbery,

because each of these
individuals told us

they'd never had any idea
how much money they had stolen.

Pace maintains
his innocence.

He and brother-in-law,
Erik Boyd,

go to trial
and are found guilty.

Pace is sentenced to 24 years,

more than double
the prison time of the friends

who testified against him.

I do imagine Allen Pace
during that time in jail

thinking if he could have
done it all over again,

he wouldn't have
recruited Eugene Hill,

even though Eugene Hill was
the first guy that he picked.

Everyone involved
with the Dunbar heist

has served their time
and moved on with their lives.

Some may have moved up
as well.

This amateur crew got away
with $18.9 million.

In today's money, it would be
well over $30 million.

The feds only recovered
about $7 million.

♪ ♪

Most of the money,
millions of dollars,

is still unaccounted for.

And where could all
that money be now?

Some of the money was
probably distributed

to some family members,
maybe even some friends.

And some could even be

still in storage facilities
to this day.

Only Allen Pace
and his five friends know

what happened to all those
untraceable $20 bills.

What we do know is that one

disgruntled employee's decide

to get rich and get even

led to six amateur thieves

pulling off the largest

cash heist of all time.

At just shy of $19 million,

the Dunbar Armored car depot

is without question

one of history's
greatest heists.

♪ ♪